Video conferencing allows people in remote locations to interact as if they are in an in-person meeting by exchanging live video streams between the remote locations. For example, a camera in a conference room in Chicago is used to capture and immediately transmit video of the Chicago conference room, for display in a remote conference room in New York City. A television in the New York City conference room displays the incoming video of the Chicago conference room, so that people in the New York City conference room can view the current actions of the people in the Chicago conference room. Similarly, a camera in the New York City conference room is used to capture and immediately transmit video of the New York City conference room, for display on a television in the Chicago conference room, so that those people in the Chicago conference room can view the current actions of the people in the New York City conference room. In this way, the two remote conference rooms are virtually joined into a single conference room.
Historically, video conferencing has been facilitated with a dedicated camera and a dedicated television in each conference room, with limited control over the outgoing or incoming video feed other than to adjust the position, zoom, and focus of the camera. However, cameras and associated displays are now commonly provided in a single device such as a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop computer, or a desktop computer that also includes vastly more processing power than the historical conference room configuration.
These devices can be provided with video conferencing applications that send outgoing video from the camera of the device and display incoming video from a camera of a remote device on a display of the same device. These applications can facilitate less expensive and more efficient conferencing systems and can allow video conferencing from any location such as a user's office, home, or even as the user moves from location to location while carrying a smartphone or tablet.